Falling to earth
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: "No matter what you try, no matter what you do, you will never measure up." Rainbow Dash is paid an unexpected visit by the Shadowbolts, who do their very best to confirm her worst fears. Oneshot. Angst/Fluff.


Disclaimer: Do not own, blah blah blah, Lauren Faust, blah, Hasbro, blah blah.

Happy blue moon, everybody! :3 So this is my third MLP fanfic, and this time it's a Rainbow Dash one! :D Rated T for some angst moments but there's some fluff in there was well. I may or may not do a sequel to this, it kind of depends on how Season 3 goes and how well this is received. I won't say anymore up here, though, and I hope you...

Enjoy!

* * *

It had begun much like any other.

But that day, Rainbow Dash was soaring through the clouds above Ponyville, the breeze drifting through her mane, wings pounding comfortingly against her body. She had been doing nothing in particular, just idly practicing a few moves, but the day had been so sunny and lethargic that even the gung-ho Rainbow Dash could only rouse herself into doing a few light stunts.

Before she knew it, Ponyville was suddenly looking almost like a toy town, so far away was Rainbow from it that even the windmill looked about the size of a flower.

"Whoa..." Dash breathed, holding a hoof over her eyes as she stared at Ponyville, which was beginning to become slightly obscured to her, owing to the floaty wisps of cirrus clouds blocking her view. Suddenly, the Pegasus jolted as she realized she had forgotten where she was.

Whoa...when did the sun start setting?

Rainbow Dash began to fly, hooves stretched out in front of her, wings flapping as she made a point to soar through the clouds, dispersing the white, insubstantial fluff with a feeling of pride.

_...Rainbow Dash..._

"Huh?"

Rainbow Dash paused, glancing around her in confusion, but couldn't see where the noise came from, so she simply shrugged and continued on. But the words, her name, continued to repeat over and over again. They sounded mournful.

As she was prone to do when distracted by something, Rainbow let out a yelp as her face and the jagged, rocky side of a hill suddenly collided with her, and she tumbled to the ground without righting herself, a little stunned by the impact.

"Ugh...!" Rainbow Dash coughed, shaking all over to discard any rocks or dirt that remained stubbornly lodged in her fur. "Of all the stupid..."

._..Rainbow Dash..._

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash repeated, flexing her wings to make sure they had taken none of the impact when she crashed.

To her relief, her wings felt fine, but as the Pegasus suddenly observed her surroundings, she realized that she wasn't anywhere in Ponyville she immediately recognized.

This wasn't what was worrying Rainbow Dash, though, it was the haunting, insistent calling that was getting to her a little. Not to mention the thick, icy fog that seemed to have rolled in from somewhere...she was confused, she couldn't remember there being any fog Pegasi on duty this week! But this worry was quickly brushed aside for a more pressing matter when she distinctly heard the sound of hooves approaching her.

"Who's there?!" Rainbow Dash called, sounding a lot braver then she felt. She walked forwards a little bit; tail swishing this way and that way in her agitation. "C'mon, show yourself, because if this is your idea of a prank, I'm not laughing!"

"If you insist." The voice that had been calling her name responded.

Then, emerging from the mist like something from another world, feet barely making much noise at all despite the rough surface of the cliff side, were...

"You're..." Rainbow gasped. "The Shadowbolts!"

It seemed impossible, but the evidence lay right before her very eyes. There was no mistaking their shadowy copies of the Wonderbolts outfits, but it was more than that. While the Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash had had the privilege of meeting had been perfectly friendly and nice, there was a certain aloof, almost cold, way these ponies held themselves, as if they were communicating they were in front of lesser beings. One of them stepped forwards.

"That's right, Rainbow Dash." It said- it was hard to discern whether it was male or female. "So glad to see that you remember us."

The other two made no sound, but the way the ever-dimming light glinted off their goggles took on a slightly sinister look with the Shadowbolt's words.

"But how- how can you be here?" Rainbow Dash faltered, and then she suddenly narrowed her eyes. "No, you can't be! We defeated Nightmare Moon and turned her back into Princess Luna! You guys were just her illusions, copies of the _real _Wonderbolts!"

"Ahh, yes, the Wonderbolts." Hummed the first Shadowbolt who had spoken. "Your idols, isn't that right, Rainbow Dash?"

The way the Shadowbolt said this did not sit right with Rainbow Dash, but she raised her head and stood her ground anyway, confident that these illusions or whatever they were couldn't do anything to hurt her, so she had no reason to run (or, indeed, fly) away from them. She was no coward.

"Yeah, that's right!" she returned, proudly. "That's why she made you three, to test that I was the right bearer for the Element of Loyalty!"

She smirked slightly as she let that sink in, since of course she had passed the test easily when she'd heard the voices of her friends calling to her.

"Or maybe...Nightmare Moon tried to give you an alternative that you passed up."

Rainbow blinked in annoyed confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked, aggressively.

The Shadowbolt regarded her for a moment before speaking again.

"Maybe she knew that we could give you what the Wonderbolts couldn't. Acceptance."

"I'm done with this. You guys aren't real." Rainbow Dash said, her words confident, but as soon as she flexed her wings, the next thing the Shadowbolt said stopped her cold.

"The Wonderbolts are never going to accept you, Rainbow Dash."

The Pegasus turned back, wings flaring up in anger.

"What did you say?!" she demanded, pawing at the ground as if preparing to charge.

"You know it to be true." insisted the first Shadowbolt.

"You're lying!"

"Yet you're still here." The Shadowbolt replied. "Tell me, then, just how is your wildest dream going? Are you any closer to accomplishing your goal of joining their ranks? I think not."

"No, that's not-"

"Not true?" interrupted the leader, her front hoof pawing at the ground in possible irritation. "Think on it. You are the fastest pony alive, Rainbow Dash. You broke the sound barrier to protect your friend and created what was thought to be a myth. The Sonic Rainboom. And yet, you still have been ignored. Passed over like some foolish filly with an impossible dream."

Rainbow Dash didn't ask how the Shadowbolts knew this. Her mind was too busy trying to process the information they had just given her.

"B-but, I...it was an accident that I pulled that off, so-"

"Does that not make the accomplishment more impressive?" the Shadowbolt returned. "You can do a Sonic Rainboom on command now, but to do it by accident, twice, at such a young age? Isn't it more impressive that you could do this, willing to die for your friend, by accident? Why would somebody not want to maximize such potential? Legends are not born every day."

"Ponyville needs me more!" Rainbow Dash argued, shaking her head as it to try and forcibly remove their words from her mind, yet she could not dispel the feeling that the walls of the cliff were closing in on her. The words of the Shadowbolts were weaving a tighter web around the Pegasus' mind, and try as she might, she could not break free from it. "I'm not just a pony; I'm the Element of Loyalty, what if another monster showed up? Who would have stopped Discord then?"

"Yet, that does not stop your friends from gaining the admiration they seek, does it? Twilight Sparkle is the Element of Magic and continues to do her task assigned to her by Princess Celestia. Rarity utilizes her own reputation as the Element of Generosity to nurture her gifts and surge ahead in her career. What makes you so different, Rainbow Dash? Haven't you proved already that you are more than capable to be a Wonderbolt?"

"I..." Rainbow Dash faltered. "I'm not...Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy are-"

"Are fulfilling their own personal goals in one way or another." another Shadowbolt interjected, moving a little closer. "So why are you the only one who still remains unsatisfied? Why is it that you are always falling just short of what you want?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"No! I just...I need to do something more, I'm not..."

"It doesn't matter what else you do." the lead Shadowbolt told her smoothly, stepping closer to her with an almost vulpine grace. Despite herself, Rainbow Dash found herself backing away. "It doesn't matter how hard you try. You, Rainbow Dash, will never be good enough. And you know it, don't you?"

"No!" Rainbow Dash insisted, but she could feel tears gathering in her eyes. "No, you're wrong!"

"Isn't that why you pushed yourself, never turned down any challenge that presented itself to you?" purred the Shadowbolt, and the other two slowly trotted out from either side of their leader, positioned at either side of Rainbow Dash. "You were so desperate to prove you weren't just another filly, you had to be better, had to show everyone that you _were_useful, didn't you? You knew there was something different in you to everyone else, some kind of flaw that you just couldn't explain."

"Was it because your parents never paid attention to you?" hissed one of the Shadowbolts. "Maybe they wanted something that you just couldn't be. Did you feel like you had to impress them, Rainbow Dash? You wanted to please them, show them you were good enough."

"Maybe she doesn't _have _any family." drawled the third one. "Poor little Rainbow Dash, did the others torment you for it, knowing no adult would step in to defend you, the orphan? Maybe that's all your little fanclub is based off- pity. Is that why you have so much to prove, yet have gained so little?"

One of the Shadowbolts laughed softly. The leader spoke again, in the same flat yet insistent voice.

"Your friends all know it. They only keep you around because you're the Element of Loyalty."

"_Shut up!"_Rainbow Dash yelped, the tears threatening to spill over. She tried to fly, but her wings locked up. She couldn't move, the words were jabbing at her, at real as a pinprick and so much more painful. "M-my friends care about me! We've been through so much and you...y-you don't know anything about them!"

"Oh? How about the Mysterious Mare Do-Well?" one of them cackled. "Did you really think your friends did that to _help _you? They just didn't like you showing off. They know you're talented, but they have to keep you here, make sure you stay reckless and foolish. They lied to you, knowing you'd fall for it, letting yourself believe that they love you, like you're their sister. You're tied down by the element you think is a gift, and one day, they'll tell you the truth, and you'll be cast out, thrown aside!"

"You'll be just like us."

And then the Shadowbolts began chanting in eerie, horrible monotone voices, the chant growing louder and more terrible with each new line.

"One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us! One of us!"

_"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!"_

"-sh! Rainbow Dash! Wake up!"

The Pegasus' fuschia-coloured eyes opened to see five faces peering over her, eyes wide.

"Wh...what?"

"Thank goodness!" gasped Fluttershy.

"That must have been some bad dream!" Pinkie Pie said, her voice sounding chirpy even beneath her panic. "You were moaning and shaking..."

"Rainbow Dash, are you...crying?" Rarity asked, softly.

"Wh-what? No...no, I'm not crying!" Rainbow Dash insisted weakly, trying to rub away the tears, but they had already seen and she knew it.

"Rainbow Dash, what happened?" Twilight asked. "Are you alright?"

"I..." Dash shook her head, and was surprised to see she was still shivering. "I dreamt...the Shadowbolts..."

There was a visible ripple of surprise that ran through the circle surrounding her, but it was Applejack who spoke first.

"D'you wanna talk about it, Sugarcube? They didn't hurt you or nothin', did they?"

"Th-they..." Rainbow stammered. She felt inexplicably ashamed, like the nightmare had been some weakness on her part that had been exposed to the world. But she forced herself to continue, the panic ebbing away with the soothing voices of her friends. "They didn't _do_anything, exactly, but...they kept telling me I wasn't...good enough. That what I did didn't matter."

She bit her lip for a moment, the next words she was about to say almost physically hurting, like she had thorns stuck in her throat.

"They told me you weren't really my friends."

A slight gasp issued, but Rainbow didn't have time to see who it was from before Pinkie flung herself over the cyan pony.

"That's so not true, Rainbow Dash! You're the bestest friend a girl could have!" Pinkie insisted, almost sounding like she was in tears at the very assumption.

"Yeah, Rainbow, ya'll are always helpin' us when we're in a fix." Applejack said, smiling comfortingly. "It was just a bad dream."

"And we've been friends for so long...I don't even remember what things were like before you!" Fluttershy told Dash, with one of her shy but hopeful smiles.

"It sounds simply awful!" Rarity enthused, her large blue eyes earnest. "Let's hope you never have to suffer something as horrid as that again!"

"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash said, her ears perking up and her spirits rising with these words of comfort. "It just seemed so real, you know? I'm sure glad you guys woke me up when you did."

"Of course." Twilight beamed. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Giggling a little at this slightly cheesy but nonetheless heartfelt line, Pinkie stretched out her arms and pulled everyone into a group hug. And Rainbow Dash, sandwiched in the middle of her friends, who were either laughing or smiling, let out a contented sigh, as the last vestiges of the dream were banished from her mind, making way for a new, brightly-lit memory of her and her five best friends.

* * *

Alright, that was a little sappy maybe, but I needed some lighthearted friendship fluff to counterbalance the torment. Before you get annoyed it turned out to be a dream, it's sort of an exploration of Rainbow Dash's insecurities and why she feels she has to be the best all the time/win everything, so that is what the Shadowbolts represent to her here. Her parentage also is an object of fascination to me, because honestly I can see her having either very high-pressure parents or being an orphan. I guess only time will tell on that count. (And yes, I really hated MMDW.)

Thank you for reading! ~


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